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Shane Balsom
Shane Balsom is a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. Actor History: *Austin Williams (10/2007-02/2010; contract & 02/2010-01/2012; recurring) Character History; An independent single mother who cared for her young son Shane, Gigi Morasco had been on her own for a while and her sole priority was protecting and supporting her son. In an attempt to find herself, Viki Davidson left Llanview and embarked upon a new life in Paris, Texas. Viki accepted a job as a waitress at the Bon Jour Café, and befriended Gigi and several other colorful characters at the diner. Instantly, Gigi developed a close friendship with Viki. Gigi's precocious son regularly visited the diner after school, and the Morasco's second family consisted of Viki, Noelle and Moe, the diner staff. Shane was very proud of his father, a deceased Navy SEAL; the child often told imaginary tales about his dead father's heroics. Gigi had always told Shane that his dad had died before he was born, but Shane knew little else about him. Whenever Shane would mention his father, Gigi would become agitated. Gigi experienced a difficult time making ends meet, but did everything possible to support her son. Because Shane suffered from asthma, Gigi would often miss work to care for the child. While Marcie McBain was on the run with baby Tommy, who was really Todd Manning's son, she ended up in Paris, Texas and encountered Gigi. Believing that Marcie was an abused woman named Sally Ann, Gigi protected her and gave her a place to stay. After learning from Michael McBain that Marcie was in Paris, Texas, Rex arrived at the Bon Jour Café looking for her. Gigi was shocked when she discovered, Rex, her ex- high school sweetheart in Paris. Although Rex was happy to see Gigi, Gigi appeared angry. While they were still involved, Rex had left town without telling Gigi. He never bothered to contact her afterward. Gigi came close to revealing a secret to Rex, but she decided against it after learning that Rex was preparing to propose to his girlfriend, Adriana. As Rex prepared to leave the diner, Shane entered and Gigi quickly escorted the child out of the room. When Todd arrived in town and posted a reward for the capture of Marcie and baby Tommy's safe return, Gigi confronted Marcie about her true identity. Understanding Marcie's plight as a single mother, Gigi helped Marcie evade Todd and the psychotic ex- FBI agent, Lee Ramsey (whom Todd had hired to help him locate Tommy). After learning that Gigi was aware of Marcie's whereabouts, Ramsey and Todd kidnapped Shane in an attempt to make Gigi talk. Shane was eventually returned unharmed and Marcie was apprehended, but John McBain arrived in Paris and persuaded Gigi to come to Llanview in order to testify in Marcie's defense. Once Gigi arrived in Llanview, she faced many obstacles. Although Viki insisted that she move into Llanfair, she was harassed by Ramsey. Rex's fiancé, Adriana, caused her much grief. Gigi had every intention of returning to Paris, until Ramsey blackmailed her into staying in Llanview. Rex enjoyed spending time with Gigi and took an instant liking to Shane. Gigi appeared bothered whenever Rex would interact with Shane. Realizing that Gigi was extremely uncomfortable around Rex and noticing Shane's resemblance to Rex, Adriana continued to question Shane's paternity and asked Gigi if Rex were actually Shane's father. Gigi adamantly denied Adriana's accusations and revealed to Adriana the identity of Shane's father - Brody Lovett. But overcome with guilt, Gigi eventually admitted to Rex that he was Shane's father - only Rex didn't hear her, because he was wearing headphones. When Adriana entered, Gigi lost her nerve and decided to keep the secret to herself. Infuriated that Rex continued to spend time with Gigi and Shane, Adriana blackmailed Dorian into investigating Brody Lovett. With her wedding date fast approaching, Adriana feared Gigi could possibly ruin her big day. Thanks to Dorian, Adriana learned that Brody was actually alive. Adriana located Brody and was shocked to learn he was a drunken wild boy. Determined to prevent Gigi and Rex from getting any closer by reuniting her with Brody, Adriana bribed Brody into coming to Llanview. As Adriana continued to plot against Gigi, Brody gave her some devastating news the night before her wedding - Rex Balsom was Shane's real father. After fighting her feelings for Rex, Gigi finally admitted to Marcie that she was still in love with Rex. As the wedding date loomed near, Rex was also wrestling with his feelings for Gigi. At their wedding, Gigi told Rex in front of a stunned congregation that she loved Rex. Just as she was about to reveal to Rex that he was Shane's father, Brody showed up. Shane was ecstatic to see his presumed-dead father, while a stunned Gigi said nothing to Rex and allowed the marriage to continue. Rex and Adriana's marriage quickly fell apart, however, after Rex learned about her part in bringing Brody to town. The final straw was when Rex discovered that Adriana had stolen his toothbrush. Adriana claimed it was to conduct DNA tests on Charlie Banks, who had claimed to be Rex's father, but she really stole it so she could learn for certain whether Rex was Shane's son. Adriana and Rex separated, and Adriana left for Paris, France. Rex fought his growing attraction to Gigi, but at one point they gave in and kissed. She continued to lie to him about Shane being his son, however. Soon thereafter, Rex left on a hunt for Bo, who had left Lindsey at the altar and vanished. Rex found Bo at the Buchanan ranch outside Paris, Texas. During a lightning storm, the two were struck and transported back to 1968, where they encountered people from Llanview who looked like Buchanan relatives and acquaintances. For instance, call girl Emma Bradley, the mother of Spencer Truman and yet-unborn David Vickers, was the spitting image of Gigi. Through the help of a psychic, Delphina, Gigi managed to transport herself back in time and come face to face with Rex in 1968. They acknowledged their love for each other and, after Gigi admitted to Rex that Shane was his son, both were transported to the present day. Rex and Gigi planned to tell Shane the truth, but returned to Llanview to discover that Brody had faked a DNA test with Rex's toothbrush (which Adriana had mailed to Gigi while she was searching for Rex) to declare that he was Shane's biological father. Shane, meanwhile, was closer to Brody than ever and didn't want Rex to come between him and the man he knew as his father. Gigi told Brody that she was going to tell Shane the truth after school, and Brody snapped. He ransacked the carriage house, knocked out Marcie and went to Shane's school and signed him out. After a failed attempt to get the court to change Shane's last name to Lovett, Brody took Shane to Llantano Mountain and soon began to see images of fighting in the war. Rex and Gigi learned from a war buddy of Brody's that Brody had accidentally shot and killed a civilian child about the same age as Shane just before his tour of duty ended. They descended on Llantano Mountain and, after releasing Shane, Brody snapped and fired his gun in the direction of Rex, Gigi and Shane. Rex threw himself over Gigi and Shane and was shot. While Rex was in surgery, Gigi admitted to Shane that Rex was his father. Rex survived surgery but was unresponsive and wouldn't breathe on his own. His estranged wife Adriana returned from Paris and refused to let Gigi see Rex. Adriana even moved Rex to Dorian's home in an attempt to keep Gigi from him. With Marcie's help, Gigi snuck into La Boulaie and managed to bring Rex out of his sleep state. After witnessing this, Adriana agreed to grant Rex a divorce and returned to Paris. Gigi and Shane went to see Brody, who was recovering from his psychotic breakdown at a nearby Veterans Affairs hospital. Gigi thanked Brody for being there for her and Shane and said she didn't blame him for what had happened. Meanwhile, Shane came face to face with his father for the first time after learning the truth about his parentage. He and Rex forged a tentative bond, while a grateful Gigi looked on. In time, Shane embraced Rex as his father, even getting Roxy to change his hair style to mimic Rex's. In March of 2009, Shane's world was turned upside down when he learned that he had been diagnosed with leukemia. Shane knew a friend at school whose father had leukemia and died, and Shane told his parents he was scared about dying too, but Rex and Gigi told Shane that he was going to get chemotherapy to knock out the leukemia, and would get a bone marrow donation to keep him healthy. Gigi and Rex went to extreme lengths to acquire the bone marrow Shane needed. Shane's Aunt Stacy appeared to be a match and blackmailed her sister Gigi into breaking up with Rex, in exchange for her blood cells, so Stacy could pursue Rex. Stacy actually acquired the blood cells from Rex's mother Roxy, however, who in turn had extracted them from the man she believed to be Rex's biological father, Mitch Laurence. The bone marrow transplant worked and Shane's medical outlook improved. Stacy promptly seduced Rex into making love to her and later tried to pass off another man's baby as Rex's. After her scheme was uncovered, Rex forced Stacy to give her the remaining blood cells so they could keep them in cold storage in case Shane ever relapsed. Stacy later died after giving birth to Shane's cousin Sierra, and Shane struggled to feel any compassion for his dead aunt. Shane's parents went through a turbulent time after his illness and broke up. Rex's world was turned upside down in November 2010 when it was revealed that a woman named Echo DiSavoy was his biological birth mother, not Roxy, and his father was believed to be Charlie Banks. Shane couldn't believe he had another set of grandparents but was grateful when his parents reunited and Rex moved back into the carriage house. Unbeknownst to Rex and Gigi, Shane was being bullied at school because his asthma, love of comics and lack of money set him apart from the other kids. The lead bully was Jack Manning, who nicknamed Shane "Wheezy" on account of his asthma. One day Echo accidentally saw Shane's MyFace page and realized that Shane was being bullied at school, but Echo said nothing to Rex or Gigi after Shane pleaded with her to keep quiet. The problems only got worse, however. Shane got in trouble after accidentally punching one of his bullies after being taunted by Jack. Shane had just learned that Clint Buchanan was actually his grandfather, not Charlie, and Rex and Gigi wondered if Shane was acting out because of that. Then Jack and one of his buddies, Brad, stole the booster club money that Shane had been collecting. The boys' parents were called to the school and the money was found in Shane's locker, even though he insisted that Jack had stolen it. Shane was suspended from school for three days. While in the gym one day, Jack and his buddies started pushing Shane around, causing him to drop his inhaler. Jack took the inhaler and ran out of the gym, leaving Shane behind. Shane suffered from a severe asthma attack and could have died if Dani & Destiny hadn't gotten him help. Shane lied to his parents that he threw his inhaler away. Later, Shane had to go into the gym wearing only his towel after Jack and his buddies stole his clothes. As students recorded Shane on their cell phone cameras, Jack pulled off Shane's towel, leaving him naked and embarrassed. Shane bolted from the gym and ran to his house, where he saw the footage had already been posted on the internet. Shane wrote a goodbye note to Rex and Gigi and went to the school, where he threw Jack his inhaler and said he wouldn't need it anymore. Shane then walked onto the roof and prepared to jump, but Rex and Gigi got to him in time and convinced him not to go throught with it. Gigi and Rex made Shane promise not to do anything like that again, but they privately worried that Shane was far from healed. Gigi and Rex took Shane to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Buhari, who frustrated Gigi by refusing to reveal anything Shane said during his session. Shane got angry with Rex after learning that Rex told Jack that he had tried to kill himself. Shane was unemotional when Rex and Gigi told him that they were engaged to be married. Rex admitted to Shane that he had taken the law into his own hands to deal with Jack, and Shane realized that Rex had hired thugs to beat up Jack. Shane felt betrayed when Gigi admitted that she had stolen a tape of his counseling session, although she didn't listen to it. Shane was inspired to begin working out at the gym after Robert Ford told him how he used to be a scrawny kid until he began lifting weights. Jack and his friend Brad showed up at the gym and mocked Shane for working out. Shane got even by dropping a weight on Jack's toe. Gigi worried that Shane would turn into a bully, but Rex was glad to see Shane stand up for himself. He was surprised when he got a MyFace friend invitation from a girl named ComicGirl15 who seemed to share many of his same interests. Shane quickly realized that the girl was a fake and figured out that Jack was behind it. When the "girl" invited him to a nearby house, Shane debated what to do. After Gigi found him on the computer, Shane told her what was going on. On the day of Rex and Gigi's wedding, Shane and Rex were at the courthouse waiting for Gigi to arrive when Jack walked by and was shocked to see Shane. Jack tried to cover for himself, but Rex realized something was wrong. Shane told Rex about the fake MyFace profile and Rex tracked down Gigi at a vacant house, where she was trapped in a basement room. Rex found Gigi unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning, and Gigi was declared brain dead at the hospital. Shane blamed himself for what had happened, but Rex assured him that it wasn't his fault. Later, Shane was livid when he learned that Rex had agreed to allow Gigi's heart to be transplanted into Clint, who was near death. Rex explained that Clint had handed over all of his possessions in exchange for Gigi's heart, and that he planned to use his newfound wealth to exact revenge on Todd and Jack. However, Rex's plan quickly fizzled as Rex became preoccupied with ghostly visions of Gigi. Rex even had Gigi's body exhumed to make sure she was dead. Shane was horrified to see his dead mother in the casket yet again. Shane grew frustrated that Jack hadn't paid for locking Gigi in the basement and spied Rex handling the gun kept in the Buchanan safe. Jack's true father emerged, explaining he had been held in captivity for eight years, and the man known as Todd was revealed to be Todd's brother Victor Lord Jr. Victor was subsequently murdered and suspicion fell to Rex. Echo and Roxy confronted Rex, revealing that his gun had been fired, but Rex denied having shot Victor. Shane stole the gun from where Echo had hidden it and confronted Jack at Victor's gravesite. he revealed that he had knocked out Jack with the butt of the gun on the night that Victor was murdered. Holding a gun on Jack, Shane demanded that Jack admit he was responsible for Gigi's death. Shane fired the gun in Jack's direction, striking a tree and causing Jack to wet himself. Rex and Bo showed up and convinced Shane to put down the gun. At the police station, Shane confessed to hitting Jack over the head and said he had taken Jack to the hospital after he didn't wake up. Shane said he had fired a practice shot before going to confront Jack but couldn't go through with killing him and didn't shoot Victor either. A ballistics test proved that the gun wasn't used to shoot Victor, and Shane was cleared. Shane still was unhappy that Jack never paid for his mother's death. Shane warned a new student, Neela Patel, to stay away from Jack because of what he had done to his mother and he convinced Neela to try to get Jack to confess on tape. Neela was conflicted but agreed to help Shane. Jack confessed everything to Neela, who turned over the tape to Shane. Shane called John McBain and Jack was arrested on Christmas Eve. Shane was excited to tell Rex the good news. But when Rex returned from a trip to Paris, Texas, he had his own good news to share: Shane's mom was alive after all It turned out that Gigi's sister Stacy had switched places with Gigi on the day she was to marry Rex after having plastic surgery to look like Gigi. Stacy had succumbed to the carbon monoxide poisoning, while Gigi was rescued by Stacy's best friend Kimberly Andrews, who believed she had rescued Stacy. Shane shared a tearful reunion with his mom, and then told Rex and Gigi that Jack had been arrested. Shane gleefully watched as Gigi appeared before a stunned Jack and confronted him for locking her in the basement. On New Year's Eve, Shane served as the best man as his parents' wedding at Llanfair. At the beginning of 2012, Shane received a letter in the mail saying he had been accepted into a prestigious art school in London. Gigi explained that she had submitted his art work to the school the previous year, when he was being bullied by Jack. Shane was excited to be accepted, but didn't want to leave behind his parents, so Rex and Gigi agreed to move with Shane to London. Clint offered to have them move to the Buchanan family compound in London, where Kevin, Joey and Kelly lived. They shared a bittersweet goodbye with friends and family in Llanview and headed for London. Health & Vitals *Suffers from asthma *Was diagnosed with leukemia 2009 *Attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a roof, but was stopped before he did it 2011 Crimes Committed *Intentionally dropped weight on Jack's foot 2011 *Knocked out Jack with butt of gun 2011 *Threatened Jack at gunpoint to confess to killing Gigi 2011 Balsom, Shane